Gaia's Fairies
by ElementalL'Cie
Summary: Eight months after Meteor Fall, Cloud finds strange people literally falling from the skies. And they claim to be from another world, a world of wizards and Dragon Slayers. As the crazy guild called Fairy Tail gathers on Gaia, they must face a new threat, one that targets the heart of families like their own. Can Cloud get along with these new strangers before hope is lost?
1. Prologue: Foreshadows

**Just something i started after watching Fairy Tail for a while ^^ Let me know what you think and I'll keep going.**

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The shock on the silver haired man's face was something never seen before to those who knew him.

The cause of that shock was currently lit up with violent crimson flames and glaring down this man with unparalleled fury and determination. Next to him stood the others, all willing to take on this monster of a man despite their injuries. Nothing could stop them now, not even the most dangerous man on the planet.

"You can't break us down, pretty boy." Spat the flame covered teen. "We're a family, and a family fights to the end!"

The silver haired man took a few cautious steps back. He'd never felt this before; FEAR. He wasn't standing before a boy; he was fighting against a dragon.

"I'll show you what happens when you mess with us!"

Flames shot from the boy's mouth and engulfed their enemy.

_About sixteen months earlier…_

Finally things had been repaired after the dreaded Meteor Fall, though Midgar was forever lost. No amount of work could bring that colossal city back, not that anyone wanted to after the misery and chaos that happened there. No, everyone had just moved out of the city and built one next to it, now being called Edge. It centered around a monument to Meteor Fall, to remember those who were taken.

None remembered the event more vividly in their minds then Cloud Strife and his friends, as well as the Shin-Ra Corporation. They had been at the heart of the conflict, and forgetting such an event would be like ignoring a demon; it will only grow more dangerous.

The problem was, in remembering it, they weren't moving past and eradicating the demon, they were nurturing it with their hate of it and their fear.

As they began to move on, one by one, it became apparent that Cloud, the one whose mind itself was attacked by the horrid man known as Sephiroth, could never move on.

Not unless he met a certain someone.

The certain someone who fell from the sky to land in front of Cloud as he made his way home.


	2. Fairy Tail or Tale?

In the vast desert surrounding Midgar, Edge included, Cloud sped his way towards home. That was currently a bar named Seventh Heaven, where his childhood friend and fellow Jenova War Hero Tifa Lockhart worked now. It was also where Marlene, Barrett Wallace's daughter, and a new orphan he'd recently been taking care of, Denzel, were staying.

'_That job was fairly easy,_' Cloud mused. '_Maybe I can visit today._'

His part time residence was in an old church where a deceased friend once took care of a flower field. His job was a delivery boy. While it was nothing compared to the fights he had only eight months ago, it still had dangers.

Edge was now in sight. The for-now-small town was becoming populated with anyone who survived Meteor Fall; but it was also populated by disease. One called Geostigma. The name made Cloud grit his teeth, Mako blue eyes glaring fiercely into the sunlight, spiked blonde hair nearly flattened back by the wind of his speedy driving.

There he saw it, a dark shadow against the sky. Slowing his speed down to get a better glance, he realized it was a person. His eyes widened in shock and he sped up again, trying to get under the person. They were falling rapidly, and seemed to be haloed in flames.

"Need to slow him down." Cloud said aloud, cursing himself for not bringing any kind of materia with him. He would have to improvise.

As the person get closer to the surface, Cloud noticed he was still a teenager, with spiky hair rivaling his own but being a dark pink. His shirt was navy blue with a yellow outline, only one sleeve on his left arm, a black band on his right wrist. The bottom was also blue with yellow, the pants beneath white and he had on sandals for his feet. He also had on a white scarf.

'_What a strange person, he can't be from Edge_.' Cloud thought to himself.

He was getting closer, slowing down as he got near to where the boy would soon land. The boy had somehow turned from a straight nose dive to his back facing the earth, making him slow down a little and making it a lot easier to catch him. After positioning himself underneath the falling teen, Cloud stopped, held his arms out, and caught him. He first noticed that he was heavier than he seemed, but not a problem for someone with Mako. Secondly he noticed that, for someone so young, this boy was extremely fit. Finally he noticed that he seemed to feel rather hot, as if his insides were on fire.

The boy was fully unconscious and didn't seem to be on the verge of waking anytime soon. Cloud's immediate thought was he needed to get him to a doctor to make sure he was okay. The high body heat didn't exactly seem like a good thing. What did surprise him was that, while he had indeed been on fire, he wasn't burned in the slightest. He thought maybe the scarf had something to do with it, since it was obviously made from dragon scales, and had a slight magic quality to it that probably let him resist fire.

Cloud put the boy in front of him on his bike and immediately sped off towards Edge. Someone should be there with medical experience, what with the Geostigma outbreak.

"…ugh…feel…sick…" The boy shifted; face looking a bit green all of a sudden.

Cloud sped up to as fast as his bike would allow without knocking the two of them off. He didn't know who this boy was, but one thing was for certain, he wanted to know how he fell out of the sky. If it had anything to do with Sephiroth…well, he doubted that, but he found he could never be too careful when that man was involved.

_At Seventh Heaven…_

The black haired bartender had just finished pushing out her last customer of the day and was beginning her clean up when someone stepped inside and she returned her brown gaze to the door.

"Cloud…who is that?" She questioned upon seeing the pink haired youth in the swordsman's arms.

"To be honest, I have no idea." Cloud replied, setting the teenager down on the cushions of a booth seat. "He fell from the sky."

"WHAT?!" Tifa gaped, rushing immediately over.

"I'm not lying." Cloud defended.

"From the sky, Cloud? Do you know how ridiculous that is!?"

"I'm serious. I wouldn't believe it either if I hadn't been the one to catch him."

"Okay, say he did fall from the sky, what could he have fallen from?"

"I seriously don't know, Tifa, that's why I brought him here. When he wakes up, I have questions for him." A little upset that Tifa wouldn't believe him, Cloud instead turned to the pink haired teen. He was now sleeping soundly…and was a very loud snorer.

"Wonder where he came from." Tifa mused aloud, looking the boy over. "Doesn't seem to be from around here, though he has your sense of style."

Cloud looked at his outfit, noticing that, like the boy, he only had one sleeve and a cloak over his pants. That was about all though, which made him wonder why Tifa said that.

"Wow, he feels really warm!" Tifa gasped when she felt the youth's forehead. "Is it healthy to be this hot?"

Cloud decided not to laugh at the way that sounded and shrugged instead. He knew what she meant and was also curious as to why the boy's temperature was so high.

The boy chose that moment, after Tifa backed up and took her hand away, to launch upright, black eyes wide open.

"Who are you?" Was the first thing he said.

"I…I was about to ask you the same thing." Tifa replied, startled.

"Natsu Dragneel." The boy smirked. Cloud's sharp eyes noticed fangs.

"Hello then, Natsu. I'm Tifa Lockhart and this is Cloud Strife."

Natsu put a hand to his mouth and stifled a snicker.

"What?" Cloud blinked confused.

"Your name…" As if unable to control himself, Natsu began laughing hysterically and fell out of the seat. Cloud felt his brow twitch.

"That's not very nice of you." Tifa snapped, crossing her arms with a slight glare at this newcomer.

He seemed to react to that pose, standing up and going rigid with a salute.

"S-sorry miss!"

This reaction startled Tifa once more and she softened a bit, giving him a slight smile.

"Call me Tifa. Anyway, where are you from?" She took a seat in the booth he'd fallen out of, motioning for him to sit across from her while Cloud leaned against the wall next to Tifa.

"Magnolia." Natsu replied. "I live there with my friends from Fairy Tail."

"Fairy…Tale?" Tifa looked confused.

"No, Fairy TAIL. Big difference." Natsu corrected, and then seemed to slouch. "No one seems to remember it."

"I've never heard of it." Cloud replied. "Or Magnolia either."

"HUH!?" The teen seemed utterly shocked by such a thing. "Hang on, where am I?"

"My bar, Seventh Heaven, in the town of Edge." Tifa answered.

"Where in Fiore is that?" Cloud could almost see the boy's head gears spinning as he tried to figure this out.

"Fiore?"

"Am I in Edolas, then?"

"Don't know that either."

Apparently coming up with nothing, Natsu hit his head on the table and gave up. Tifa seemed a bit sympathetic for the child while Cloud was still annoyed about him making fun of his name.

"How about this, Natsu. You tell us a bit about where you're from and we'll do the same for this place. That way we get to know each other and can work out this problem with you." She offered sweetly.

"Sure." Natsu looked up slightly.

"Alright, what about Fairy Tail?"

"Magnolia's number one wizard guild!" Natsu rose up and lifted a fist into the air, showing them the bright red mark on his right arm, just below the shoulder, before lowering it again. "Well, it was, but after I got trapped on Tenroujima Island for seven years it sank to the bottom. But we're going to bring us back to the top!"

"You were trapped on an island for seven years?"

Natsu just nodded, not sure how to explain it. Lucy was better at that stuff, and Erza too. His eyes widened as he realized his friends were nowhere in sight.

"Oi, where's the rest of my guild?" He stood, looking around to see if they might have been in a corner.

"I only found you falling from the sky." Cloud replied.

"EH?!" The boy recoiled in shock.

"I caught you before you hit the ground." He added hastily. "Which reminds me, your body temperature is really high. Is that normal in Fiore?"

"No, I'm a Fire Dragon Slayer." At this he beamed with pride. "It's probably from all the fire I ate."

"Hold on." Cloud held a hand out, pushing off from the wall as he tried to process that. "You…eat fire?"

"Yeah, that's what Dragon Slayers can do." Natsu at first seemed to wonder why he didn't understand this, before remembering he was somewhere else. "We use Dragon Magic and can eat the element we use. Mine is fire."

"That would explain why he's so hot." Tifa pointed out.

"Whoa, I don't feel the same way." Natsu sweat dropped.

"I didn't mean it that way!"

"M-my apologies!"

Ignoring that part, Cloud had reached behind the bar and pulled out a small materia from the stash Tifa kept there, just the basic kinds.

"If you can really eat fire, then here." Cloud said, activating the materia and shooting a flame spell straight at Natsu.

"Cloud!" Tifa shouted accusingly, not noticing Natsu's feral smirk.

The teen grabbed the small ball of flames with ease and popped it into his mouth before swallowing. To say the Jenova War Heroes were shocked was an understatement. Cloud knew he could at least resist fire from what had happened while the boy was falling and felt comfortable shooting the flames, but he was unsure the boy could actually eat it like he'd said.

"Thanks, though it tasted kind of different from what I'm used to." Natsu smiled gleefully, rubbing his stomach.

It was then Cloud understood he might have taken on more than he could handle.

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**Whoo, long chapter. Enjoy Natsu being, well, Natsu :)**


	3. More Fairies

"So basically, this town is on the outside of another one, which was destroyed by this Sephiroth guy using weird magic to bring a meteor down on it?" Natsu recapped what he'd been told.

"More or less." Tifa nodded, unlocking the doors and looking up into the darkening sky. It was nearing the time people usually swarmed in for their dinner drinks.

"And Sephiroth was using a piece of a weird alien thing called Jenova to be a god?"

"Yes."

"And you guys, along with a couple others, defeated him?"

"Yes." She started prepping drinks for her usual customers that never failed to arrive and always ordered the same drinks.

"Hmm…"Natsu knew there was more, but it was too much to wrap his head around and the only thing he could focus on was basically: this Sephiroth guy was a wanna-be-god trying to destroy the planet, called Gaia, and they destroyed him instead. "I think I get it. What kind of magic did you use earlier, Cloud?"

Natsu's shift in topic caught Cloud off-guard somewhat, but he hid it well and tossed Natsu the glowing red sphere.

"Don't eat that." Cloud warned as the teen looked at it in fascination, feeling the fire inside. "It's called materia, which is condensed energy from the planet itself used as magic."

"So it's like a lacrima?"

"And that is?"

"Same thing, pretty much, except I think lacrima is condensed magic energy, not anything from our planet."

"Then yes, it's like a lacrima."

"So it could be used the same way!" Natsu, eager to try it, pushed his magic energy into the stone to activate it and then let the fire release from inside. Before the fire could spread as Tifa was despairing it would, Natsu sucked the fire up and swallowed it. "Cool! I could use this as an endless supply of energy!"

"They do run out eventually." Cloud corrected.

"Dammit. I thought I had something there." The Dragon Slayer pouted.

"If you people can use magic without these…lacrima, why do you have them?" Cloud questioned, remembering what Natsu told them about wizards and guilds.

"Not everyone uses magic in Fiore." Natsu replied. More than that he didn't know. He remembered being told that a member of his guild had a lacrima implanted in him that made him a Dragon Slayer, not that Natsu thought of him as one, but didn't know how to explain that so didn't mention it.

Someone walked inside and Cloud motioned for Natsu to be quiet, then walked over and grabbed the materia.

"Don't tell anyone about this, just try to act like someone from Edge." He cautioned.

"How do I do that?" Natsu growled in a whisper like Cloud was doing.

"Talk as little as possible and go along with what people tell you. Don't do anything stupid and don't eat fire."

The blonde left Natsu to mope and went upstairs. Denzel was with Marlene and Barrett for now, which provided him time to think of a cover story for the others when they saw Natsu. It was hard enough to believe this story about wizards and Dragon Slayers; everyone would think he'd finally lost it. Tifa still didn't think Natsu had fallen from the sky, while Natsu went right along with it saying weird things like that happened to him all the time.

What kind of place was Fiore?

Back downstairs, as people began pouring in, Tifa watched as Natsu searched each and every face, before looking back down sadly. He hadn't said much about the members of his guild, but he did mention his team within it. The blonde haired girl who used gate keys for Celestial Spirits and seemed to touch a soft spot on Natsu that he didn't realize, Lucy Heartfilia. The scarlet haired warrior who could change her armor in a flash and one of the rare few people that scared Natsu, Erza Scarlet. The black haired Ice Mage that Natsu clearly expressed a dislike for but acknowledged him as a friend, Gray Fullbuster. And the weirdest of all of them, a small blue cat, or Exceed, that could sprout wings that Natsu himself had raised from an egg of all things, Happy.

While she wasn't sure about the first three, she could be sure the blue cat would be an easy notice and rumors about that would travel fast, especially if he talked like Natsu stated.

But she had customers to serve, Natsu's friends could be found later. If he had turned out fine, surely they would be too.

_Northern Crater, Same Time…_

Darkness swirled up and tried to form a shape, only to fall apart again. Fuming, the dark presence tried again, yet still failed. If he was to fulfill his promise and return, he had to succeed. But for days now he had failed, barely able to even bring the darkness up at all sometimes. Unsuccessful though he was, his stubborn pride would not allow him to quit.

Then he sensed it, a change in the current of the Lifestream. Something new had arrived, something with enough power to make the green tendrils trying to drag him back down shudder. He decided to stop for that day and learn what had caused this ripple, allowing the Lifestream to take him back. It would take some time to get back out again, but he needed to know what it was.

That 'something' turned out to be a certain pink haired teenager. The dark presence got as close as he could without directly pushing himself out of the Lifestream. There, he saw hazy glimpses of the boy being carried towards Edge by a blonde haired swordsman. While the catcher caught his attention, it became immediately focused on the stranger as he felt the power radiating through the stream of life around him.

This boy was immensely powerful, a sleeping power that occasionally rose up. This was no ordinary boy.

This was a dragon in human skin.

The presence knew he couldn't make his move yet, not until he knew more about this boy. His power failed him and he ended up getting sucked back into the darkness.

'_No matter._' He mused. _'I will take my time and gather my power. He is the only one; I shall not fail because of him._'

The darkness prevented him from sensing the next ripple, one originating inside the town of Kalm. Instead of falling from the sky, this one appeared in the town center, already landed, and seemed to be protected by the stars themselves as strangers approached.

In fact, the newcomer arrived in town inside of a talking, walking clock, fast asleep. The clock dispersed and the people, thinking she was some kind of spirit, carried her straight to the inn and took good care of her.

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**Here's the next chapter. I was lucky to have finished this some time ago and am halfway through the next chapter cuz i'm really sick right now T^T Won't be able to work on them for a day or two.**


	4. Fires of Friendship Burn!

If it wasn't for the intensely loud snoring, Tifa would have thought Natsu sleeping was kind of cute, as he slept like a child, muttering in his sleep. But, since he did snore, she almost woke him up just to get him to stop.

Cloud had already left on his next delivery and Barrett had returned to drop off the children before running off for his own job, not getting a chance to see Natsu. The children, however, didn't quite know what to make of their newcomer.

"It's kind of cute." Marlene giggled.

"He's loud." Denzel muttered under his breath.

"Be nice, you two, he's come a long way and is a little lost." Tifa pushed them past the Dragon Slayer and led them upstairs. "He's all the way from a town near Gongaga, one called Magnolia."

"Never heard of it." Denzel seemed distrusting.

"It's a very small town." Tifa added nervously. "Just let him be, alright, he's had a long night." _'searching for those friends of his to walk in._'

Mornings were always slow anyway and she hadn't finished cleaning, so she let Natsu be and did just that. He was a heavy sleeper, that was for sure, and his snores subsided when he turned his face over onto the cushion, muffling his voice.

"I wonder if he'll ever find his friends." She mused aloud.

She continued working, at one point seeing Natsu wake up, where he offered to help in return for letting him stay the night. It became obvious he didn't like cleaning, but since he was doing it to pay her back, he pulled through and managed to finish, a child-like smile on his face for most of the time.

"Do you have a map of this place?" He asked suddenly.

"You're not planning on going out alone to find your friends, are you?" Tifa raised an eyebrow at him, noticing the kids come down.

"Ack, you figured that out fast!" He recoiled, then also saw Marlene and Denzel. "Yo!"

"Natsu this is Marlene and Denzel." Tifa introduced the children. The young girl in the white dress with braided brown hair gave a small bow and a big grin that Natsu returned in full. Denzel kept to himself, blue eyes hidden by curly brown hair.

Up close, Natsu caught onto the scent of something strange and his smile faltered. His nose twitched as he tried to make it out, learning it was on Denzel. Leaning closer, and startling Denzel in the process, Natsu sniffed again.

"What's that stuff on your forehead?" Natsu asked, not knowing the subject was touchy.

Denzel covered said spot with his hand and turned away.

"Natsu, over here for a moment." Tifa pushed the Dragon Slayer away while Marlene tried to comfort her friend.

Unable to know what he did wrong, Natsu grumbled a bit but didn't spark her anger.

"How did you know that was there? He hides it from others." Tifa demanded.

"It smelled funny." Natsu replied, still not getting it.

"Smelled funny?"

"Yeah, I am a Dragon Slayer."

"More like an actual dragon. Look, it's a disease called Geostigma, and it's making him very weak and sick. He's also very sensitive about it, so try not to mention it again."

"Isn't there a cure?"

Tifa shook her head sadly.

"Well, he'll get better right?" Natsu's concern for the boy seemed genuine and made Tifa nearly refuse to tell him the truth.

"People usually don't get better. Actually, I don't think anyone has survived it."

The Dragon Slayer's eyes widened in horror as this sunk in, his body seeming to freeze. Then, suddenly, he scowled fiercely and shot up off his chair, turning back to Denzel.

"Natsu!" Tifa attempted to stop the teen, but he had his mind set.

Noticing the approaching pink haired youth, Denzel took a few steps away. Marlene wanted to help, but she could sense that Natsu was trying to help too, just in a different way. Natsu knelt down in front of the frightened child.

"Don't you dare give up, ya hear me?" Natsu snapped.

"W-what?"

"I don't know what this 'Geostigma' stuff does, but even the worst of things can be beaten if you have your friends with you." Natsu's face softened a bit as he thought about his own friends. "Whether you've got no strength left to fight or if something's got you down, you can always count on your friends to pull you back up."

Natsu put one hand over his heart, his Fairy Tail mark easy to see, and smiled.

"Where I'm from, friends are family, and your family never gives up on you. So don't give up on them."

Speechless, Denzel simply stared, wide-eyed, at this stranger before him. Having only seen him awake for a few minutes, Denzel could say this man was a total stranger to him in every way, and yet…that short speech had brought to light the dark feelings inside Denzel that were threatening to consume him.

"Don't ever forget that, Denzel." Natsu finished, ruffling the boy's hair and standing. "And not even darkness itself can stop you."

"You seem to speak from experience." Tifa said, smiling at Natsu's display of courage.

The Dragon Slayer just nodded at her and smiled toothily at the kids. Marlene giggled. Sure, Natsu was a dragon, but he was a loyal dragon that was always there for others.

She knew his friends must love him dearly.

_Kalm, ten minutes later…_

Cloud arrived in time to see people gathering around someone in the center. Confused, the swordsman stopped and got off his motorbike, walking towards the commotion. Having been there several times before, people recognized the hero and stepped aside to let him through.

What he saw wasn't quite what he expected.

A young girl with blonde hair in pigtails and big brown eyes. Her shirt only covered her chest and was white and blue, the sleeves starting above her elbow and ending in white ruffles. Her short blue skirt was held up by a brown belt with a small pouch on it and she had tall black leather boots.

"Show us one of those spirits that came by, Lady Lucy." One Kalm citizen said.

'_Spirits?_' Cloud wondered, knowing that these people knew summon monsters weren't exactly spirits.

"Ah, well…see, I might not be able to." The girl, Lucy, replied nervously.

'_Wait, Lucy? That was one of Natsu's teammates._' Cloud realized. '_Then these 'spirits' must be from her Gate Keys._'

He then saw it; the light pink mark shaped exactly like Natsu's located on her right hand. She was a Fairy Tail member for sure.

"Just one." He called out, some of the other townspeople going quiet when they heard his voice. He'd seen Natsu's magic, somewhat, he needed to see hers to prove she was a friend of Natsu's.

"Hold on, you can't just come up to a girl and demand things." Lucy huffed, crossing her arms.

"You know Natsu Dragneel, I'm guessing?" Cloud replied.

Her eyes lit up.

"Natsu! Where is he?"

"One spirit and I'll take you to him."

Frowning once more, Lucy debated her options here. Cloud was sure she'd summon one, even if it was weak.

"Alright, but just one." She replied, reaching into the pouch at her side and taking out a single gold key. She held tight to it, preventing him from seeing the full design, but the tooth end looked nothing like a normal key and seemed rather sharp. "I open thee, Gate of the Lion!" She made a cross motion with the key and a large circle, much more complicated than a normal summoning circle, appeared before her. "Leo!"

Smoke swirled upwards in front of the circle, startling some of the civilians and Cloud as well. Once it cleared, a young man in a suit with spiked orange hair like a lion's mane and glasses covering his eyes was holding Lucy bridal style. Part of the man's hair looked somewhat like ears, and as he smiled cheekily at Lucy, Cloud saw fangs.

"Loke, put me down!" Lucy growled at this 'spirit'.

"Of course, Lucy, anything for you." The 'lion' said cheekily, placing the young woman on the ground once more.

"Stop that."

"So you're a spirit?" Cloud questioned, catching their attention. The people behind him were fascinated by the summons.

Cloud's curiosity was shared by Loke, or Leo, whichever he went by, as the lion spirit looked over the blonde.

"I am." Loke answered after a moment. "Leader of the Twelve Zodiac spirits, Leo the Lion. The people from Fairy Tail know me as Loke."

"Alright then, Lucy, I'll show you where Natsu is." Cloud turned to the summoner.

"Yay! It's good to know I'm not the only Fairy Tail member here." She cheered happily. Loke, sharing in the enthusiasm, high-fived her before leaving in a flash of light.

And so the second stranger to Gaia was on her way to the first, while Cloud wondered if there would be any others. He was sure this was only his second strange encounter with Fairy Tail.

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**Here's chapter 3! I got sick so finishing it took forever, and i couldn't decided which spirit to use. I went with Loke since he's more human looking than most of the others, which Lucy was taking into account at the time. Hope it's good, working on this and 'Ice Dragon and Chaos' at the same time. (This one is Fairy Tail and FF7, the other one is Bleach and FF7 ^^ )**


	5. Fairies Coming Together

After Natsu's speech, Denzel had taken a liking to the Dragon Slayer. He would ask questions about the Fairy Tail guild, where Natsu was forced to keep certain secrets on Tifa's behalf. Even with the slimmed down version on what his guild was, Denzel loved it and wondered if he could join.

"You have to be really good at magic." Natsu replied to that.

"Cloud has lots of materia, if I had those could I get in?" Denzel asked with big eyes.

"Probably, but that's up to Master Makarov."

"But you don't know where he is."

"Nope but I'm definitely going to find him!" Natsu jumped to his feet, letting his fists ignite. Tifa had since told the children, since the first time he did that, that Natsu's scarf had the ability to grant him fire because it was sewn with the same kind of magic that fire materia had. They bought it and Natsu could continue his flurry of fiery fist acts without worry.

"Do you know where to start?" Tifa questioned, serving drinks. The residents of the bar were used to this new person's fire as well, having seen him do it for a while, and rumor had spread about the teenage 'fire-starter'.

Natsu was actually very helpful with the rowdy drinkers.

Responding to Tifa's question, Natsu's fire went out and his head fell. But, in normal Natsu fashion, he perked right back up, no fire this time, with a big grin.

"I'll just look everywhere until I find him!"

"So enthusiastic." One person muttered.

"Kind of hard not to admire the kid." Another replied.

"That's one guy who's not going to have his spirit crushed easily."

"Ha, wait 'till he catches the stigma, that'll put him out."

With sharp senses, Natsu caught on to that and was by the speaker's side in another moment, startling the whole table as he scowled fiercely.

"No illness can put my fire out!" The Dragon Slayer snapped holding his right arm up with his fist ignited once more, letting his Fairy Tail mark show clearly.

"Geostigma isn't some illness, kid." The man growled back, standing and facing Natsu head on. "It's a parasite that feeds on hope, or that's what it seems like. It turns your blood black and kills you from the inside out, causing you extreme pain."

In the corner, Denzel shrunk back, a hand on his forehead.

"Some brat like you wouldn't last a day with the stigma after you feel its effects." The man sat back down.

Natsu had since noticed the smell of Geostigma on him, but that didn't call forth any pity. If anything, it pissed him off more. Before the man knew what had happened, Natsu grabbed him by the collar and pulled him roughly back to his feet, getting right in his face. The bar went silent.

"So you're just going to give up and die, huh?" Natsu snarled. "That's no way to live. So what if it hurts, pick yourself back up and have that much more fun. You've got friends and family, don't you? If you don't pull through, who do they have to depend on?"

Still silence.

"I get it, the stigma sucks. But if you live your life fully to the end, the stigma won't be what people remember, it'll be how you pushed past it to be yourself."

He dropped the man back in his seat and walked away to the outside, slamming the door behind him.

"There he goes again." Tifa sighed, continuing on while everyone else remained deathly silent. The man Natsu snapped at was frozen in shock.

Said mage vanished around the corner just as Cloud pulled up with Lucy behind him. She jumped off, rushing into the bar to find Natsu only to be met with the awkward silence inside left in his wake.

"Can I help you?" Tifa asked the blonde.

"Where's Natsu?" Cloud replied instead, stepping inside next to Lucy. By now, mutters were beginning to pick up again.

"Just left." Tifa eyed the newcomer, noticing that she must be Natsu's friend.

"Are you his friend?" The man from before questioned.

"Yes, we're on the same team." Lucy replied, confused. Did the flame mage do something again?

"Can you tell him thank you for me?"

"Um, sure, once I find him."

Lucy wanted to know what had happened, but also knew better than to pry, and if it was for a thank you she saw no reason to worry.

By now Natsu had picked up Lucy's scent and was rushing back around the corner. She stepped outside in time to get bowled over by the hyper active Dragon Slayer.

"Ack! Natsu!" Lucy growled at him

"Lucy! I'm not the only one here!" He cried out happily, ignoring Lucy's growl.

The innocent happiness on his face took the annoyance from Lucy's face and she smiled too.

"Glad to see you too." She said to him. "Now get off."

He obliged, giving her a silly grin, before helping her stand back up.

"Is there anyone else here?" Lucy asked him.

"Nope. I don't even have Happy here." At the last part he slumped a little.

"Don't worry, we'll find him. We'll find everyone."

"Darn right we will!"

"Oh, by the way, someone inside wanted me to tell you he says 'thank you'." Lucy said, putting a finger to her chin as she tried to remember who it was. They hadn't given her a name. "What would that be about?"

Instead of answering, Natsu looked through the big glass window at the very person she was mentioning. After catching his eyes, Natsu grinned and gave him a thumbs up. The man responded in kind with a small smile and a wave. Lucy was still confused but decided not to question it.

"Well, we better start looking, they could be anywhere." Natsu turned back to his teammate.

"Wait, we don't know where WE are!" Lucy replied. "We'll need a map or something."

"Wasn't one of your spirits good at finding people?"

"Yes, but we'll still need a map so we know where to go."

"Oh…"

Submitting to Lucy's idea, Natsu followed her back inside and walked to the bar where Tifa was busying herself mixing drinks.

"Err, excuse me." Lucy asked, catching the woman's attention. "Is there a way we could get a map?"

"Hmm, I don't know if I have any." Tifa mused. "But Cloud knows his way around well."

"Tifa!" The blonde hissed at being put in the spotlight.

"Or you can call Cid, if he's not busy." She corrected herself.

"Do you even know where you're going?" Cloud asked the pair.

"Nope." Natsu replied, unbothered.

While Natsu didn't see a problem with it and Lucy seemed to have an idea, Cloud thought they were crazy. If they had no idea where they were going, how were they supposed to find anyone? Gaia was a big planet, with three continents, there was no way two people were going to find the rest of their guild unless they knew what direction they were going. He didn't doubt they could take care of themselves in a fight, but it didn't help much if you constantly stumbled into one.

"Cid will have a map at least." He sighed, standing. "You'll need to figure out where to lead him."

And that's how Cid Highwind, the pilot of the Jenova War Heroes, got mixed into Fairy Tail chaos.

* * *

**Natsu gives another speech, Lucy makes it to Seventh Heaven and now the old man Cid is about to join in on Fairy Tail fun :) Hope you liked it!**


	6. Kitty Chase!

"You really need to get one, Spiky." Cid scowled, handing Cloud his wanted map.

"My last one got lost." Cloud shrugged. "It's not me who needs one anyway."

Turning to look behind him, he caught Natsu and Lucy staring in awe at the huge airship situated in the desert just outside of Edge where they were now located.

"It's not anything fancy, not by a long shot." Cid snapped at them, brushing a hand through dirty blonde hair and lighting a cigarette. "Working on a new one but she aint anywhere near finished. Fastest way to get around."

"No thanks." Natsu slumped, face looking a bit green.

"Eh?"

"Natsu gets really motion sick on vehicles." Lucy explained nervously, noticing the hurt look on Cid's face. "It's his one weakness."

"Well you can't exactly walk everywhere." Cid argued.

"Sure can." Natsu argued back.

"How are you going to get to the other continents?"

"Swimming of course!"

"You'll drown before you get there!"

The two had their faces pressed close and were audibly growling, each one glaring fiercely at the other as they stubbornly refused to back down.

"N-Natsu! Stop that! Besides, we'll never find the others if we just walk everywhere." Lucy pushed the two away, rounding on her fire friend. "You might be able to swim that far but I can't."

"Which reminds me, how are you planning to find your friends?" Cloud, having stayed quiet during the argument, piped up.

"Oh, one of my spirits is good at finding people. Here, I'll call him." The young blonde pulled out a silver key this time, one with a green cross on the head in a white square and the tooth part had a small cross cut out.

"What's that for?" Cid questioned, curious.

"Just watch, Cid." Cloud replied.

Nodding to him, Lucy turned away from them and made the same cross motion she'd done when summoning Leo.

"I open thee, Gate of the Southern Cross! Crux!"

There was a loud sound like that of a bell clock and smoke rose out from the rune circle that appeared from Lucy's command. Instead of a humanoid figure like Loke had been, Crux was a small old man with an enormous silver head shaped like a cross and spindly limbs.

Cid backpedaled in shock while Cloud looked a little surprised as well. Natsu snickered at them.

"What do you wish me to find, Master Lucy?" The cross-man asked, opening one eye.

"The members of my guild should be around somewhere, we need help finding them." Lucy explained, then lifted the map and pointed to Midgar. "We're right next to this place, can you tell us where our closest friend is?"

"Hmm…" The old spirit mused…and then started snoring.

"He fell asleep!" Cid snapped as Cloud simply gaped.

"No, that's how he searches." Lucy corrected easily, as if sleeping while looking was normal.

"Huh?"

"I don't get it either, don't worry." Natsu whispered to the old pilot.

There was silence for a moment save for the sound of the airship humming quietly above them as it waited for a verdict. Then:

"DIAO!" The sudden shout made Cid nearly fall over backwards and Cloud jump, hand reaching back for his sword on instinct, which wasn't with him. "I have found your nearest friend, Master Lucy."

The last bit was said in a normal tone but the Gaians were still shocked.

"Where?" Natsu asked eagerly.

"Mr. Happy is located here." Crux pointed to an empty mountain area southeast of their location.

"Happy!" Natsu cheered at the thought of getting his best partner back.

"Thanks Crux." Lucy nodded to the spirit, watching him vanish in a flash of gold light, same as Loke had.

By now Cloud at least had recovered and was observing Natsu as the Dragon Slayer pumped fists full of flames, another thing to shock Cid with, into the air.

"Just what kind of mess have you gotten yourself into?" Cid asked Cloud, disbelief in his voice.

"Good question." Cloud sighed in reply. "We should probably get moving before their friend moves on."

"S-sure, but that kid better not be sick all over my ship."

The pilot stomped away a few feet and motioned for the ship to land and let them on. Behind him, Natsu stuck his tongue out at him for the comment only to have Lucy hit him for being rude. The punishment did nothing to dampen Natsu's mood at the thought of seeing Happy, and he even willingly raced onto the airship so they could get to his friend as fast as possible.

But, as per usual with vehicles, Natsu soon found himself feeling terribly sick and looking rather green and laying himself out on the floor of the steering room.

"Jeez, Yuffie's not even this bad." Cid grumbled, watching the sickly Natsu hold onto a nearby pole for dear life.

As they worked their way closer to Happy's location, Cloud explained to Cid what Natsu had told them. Lucy would have gotten information, but with Cloud talking to Cid and Natsu down until they stopped, she was left in the dark. Not that she minded, she wanted to see her blue cat friend as well.

_At their destination…_

"Natsu…Lucy…Gray…Erza…" Muttered a small blue cat with a white stomach and tail tip for possibly the thirtieth time that day. His green bag was empty of the fish he usually stocked up with for journeys, having eaten over time since he'd woken up a few hours ago. He'd only had two before waking up, meaning it didn't last long.

Behind him were the treacherous mountains where he had first awoken and had to run from terrifying monsters he'd never seen before in all of Fiore. Even away from the mountains and down in the tree dotted plains there were strange creatures that tried to eat him.

"Natsu…" Happy whined, wanting dearly to find his Dragon Slayer friend.

His ear twitched, catching onto something. It was running water, which meant a stream. And a stream meant…

"Fish!"

Using his Aera magic, Happy lifted into the air with white wings and towards the source of the water sound. It didn't take long and he nearly landed in the water, which is when he realized he didn't have a way to catch any fish. He hadn't brought a fishing pole.

His stomach growled.

"No fish…"

Across the stream, a large wolf-like creature was staring into the water. A dark shadow passed underneath and it launched its head in, coming back up with a large fish in its mouth.

"Oh, I get it." Happy grinned, donning the same pose the wolf had, forepaws up and waiting.

Two minutes in, no fish. Happy wondered how the wolf could wait so long.

Five minutes.

Happy thought he heard a humming noise in the air. He nearly looked up but noticed a fish heading his way, unawares. Thinking it was finally his chance, he waited. Closer…closer.

The humming was getting really loud now and distracted him. Trying to ignore it he jumped in to grab the fish, but missed completely and scared them all off.

"This is hard." Happy stepped out of the stream, soaked, and shook his fur out.

The humming was more of a roar now and this time Happy looked up.

"Wah! Dragon!" He screeched at the sight of the airship passing over him. "Natsu!"

Terrified, Happy brought his wings out again and raced away.

In the airship, Natsu's sickness became a little more bearable and he spotted the speck of blue flying away, though not fast enough for the airship.

"O-oi, Lucy." He managed to get out, pointing towards the speck.

"What is it…oh! Happy!" The blonde girl pressed up against the window to make sure it truly was the flying cat. "Cid, that's Happy!"

"Wait, he's a…cat?" Cid seemed confused while Cloud just nodded.

She didn't answer, rushing off instead towards the open deck below where she would be able to catch Happy when they got close.

"HAPPY!" She called out as loud as she could, hoping the creature would hear her over the wind.

"Huh, that was Lucy's voice." Happy mused, turning to look behind him.

Waving so he could see her, Lucy caught the cat's attention and waved him over.

"Lucy!" He spun around and headed back towards the Celestial Wizard, and with the ship still moving forward, he ended up slamming into her pretty hard and knocking her down. Safe on the ship, they just laughed.

Holding tight to the cat so the wind wouldn't carry him off, Lucy stepped back inside and ran up to the flight deck so he could see that Natsu was there too. The minute Happy spotted his partner, he rushed over bawling and held tightly to Natsu's scarf, while all Natsu could manage was to pat him on the head; the motion sickness was killer. At the wheel, Cid looked past the fact that Happy was a cat and smiled at the reunion of friends.

"So, Lucy, where to next?" Cid asked.

* * *

**Yay! Happy! Team Natsu is going to get together pretty quick, but the rest of Fairy Tail will take time as things start heating up. They still have a few months before the start of Advent Children (which is when this is taking place) so alot is going to happen in between and will change the events from the movie somewhat. Don't get me wrong, i love the movie, but with Fairy Tail in the picture...things are going to change alot.**


	7. Icy Arrival

Cloud had decided, mainly for Natsu's sake, to stop the search. He reasoned that Lucy had been safe in a town, and Happy had turned out fine, though a little hungry, so they could assume the others would all be safe.

But instead of going back to Edge, they kept on towards Junon near the coast, as Cloud had a job to do there.

"Job?" Happy asked, floating up next to Cloud. He and Lucy had gotten the rundown on Gaia and its current problem, same as Natsu, who was currently unconscious so as not to suffer his sickness, courtesy of Cid during a sharp turn when the Dragon Slayer hit his head.

"I've taken up a kind of mercenary position." Cloud explained. "I do odd jobs here and there."

"Sounds like a guild." Lucy said. "In every guild there's a request board where jobs get put up. The members can pick a job and they get a reward once they complete it."

"I get calls instead."

"I see, so I guess it's not completely the same."

He nodded, turning his attention back outside towards the approaching city.

_Northern Crater, same time…_

The shadow had returned for another try, but had noticed the extra two beings with the first. One of them he was unconcerned with, as it was relatively weak, but the other had an unnatural connection to the stars. The dragon boy was worrisome enough with his immense power, but he could be destroyed. However, someone protected by the cosmos themselves would be a little harder to get to.

He needed to wait. Trying to finish his creations now would only result in a failed fight. He had time…plenty of time.

Another being. Now he was getting annoyed. How many of these strangers were there? If this kept up, he'd never be finished.

So he decided to wait. He would wait a few months before trying again, all the while watching for new beings and determining their strength. If they entered the fight against him with the heroes…he might fail. That was not an option.

He returned to the depths to wait.

_Junon, twenty minutes later…_

The airship docked and the people entering the town all got off. Cloud was off to complete his job, Natsu was happy to escape the vehicle, and Lucy and Happy were with him to explore the town a little. Cid remained to watch his ship with his crewmates.

"Okay Happy, no flying or talking." Lucy warned, remembering Cloud's warning before they landed. "People will be okay with your color but we don't want to draw too much attention."

"Aye sir!" Happy saluted, then hopped over to Natsu and sat on his shoulder, going perfectly quiet.

Hoping that quiet would remain, Lucy sighed and started walking next to her teammates into the town. She had high hopes it would, since Cloud kindly offered to buy Happy some fish from this seaside town if he and Natsu both didn't cause a ruckus.

Then again, this was Fairy Tail.

The streets were still reminiscent of when Shin-Ra owned the place as a military base, though all Natsu, Lucy and Happy could tell was that the town was 'prepared for a war' as Natsu put it. In her mind, Lucy replied with 'They're probably not prepared for Fairy Tail'. However, while there was still a lot of armored buildings and a stray soldier, the town seemed to be turning around towards its original use as a fishing city. It still had a dismal atmosphere, lightened only by an excitement near the center of a street that reminded Lucy of the people around her back in Kalm.

Where she put two and two together and realized it must be another friend.

At the same time, Natsu caught onto something and was sniffing the air. Through the smell of smoke and salt-water, he found a very familiar scent.

"It's Gray!" He shouted and Happy grinned but wisely kept silent.

"Gray?" Lucy was confused at first.

"Yeah, come on!" Gripping Lucy's hand tight the Dragon Slayer tugged forward and pushed through the crowd…which he noticed were mainly girls. "I would notice that popsicle's scent anywhere."

Once pushing through the rather stubborn crowd of girls, they were met with Gray Fullbuster, who had at least managed to keep his shirt and white coat on and his black pants, contrary to their belief. The ice mage ran a hand through black hair and searched for an exit to escape the girls.

'If Juvia saw this she'd be pissed.' Lucy thought.

Once Gray spotted them he seemed to get over his nervousness a bit and push the girls back.

"Natsu! Lucy! Happy! Where have you been!" He asked them, ignoring the whining girls behind him.

"Looking for you, idiot." Natsu smirked while crossing his arms. Happy, seeing where this was going, jumped over to Lucy's shoulder.

"Oi, what did you call me?" Gray's nervousness vanished and he was right up in Natsu's face with a fierce scowl to match the Dragon Slayer's.

"What do you think, frosty? I called you an idiot 'cuz you got lost!"

"I didn't get lost I woke up here! Then all of a sudden these girls surrounded me."

"Ha, bet they'd run once they knew you were a pervert."

"I'm not a pervert, lava-brain!"

"Say that after you put your shirt back on." Lucy interrupted, noticing that somehow during the fight Gray had managed to take off his coat and shirt, the dark blue mark of Fairy Tail clearly seen on his chest.

Startled, Gray left the argument and slipped his clothes back on while Natsu snickered, feeling victorious.

"We should probably get back to the airship, Cloud should be done soon." Lucy stepped between them before they could start fighting again.

"Who the hell has a name like Cloud?" Gray commented.

"Probably shouldn't say that to his face." Lucy replied darkly. "Come on, Cid will want to know there's another passenger."

"And right after finding Happy!" Natsu grinned. "Wonder who we'll find next!"

"Hopefully Erza." Lucy snapped.

The two boys recoiled.

"Why would you say that!?" They said together before glaring at each other.

"I rest my case." The Celestial Wizard sighed and kept walking. Thanks to meeting Gray they hadn't seen very much of the city, but at least they'd found another friend. It seemed Team Natsu was getting back together. Lucy only hoped they could find everyone else as easily.

Once back on the ship, Cid was surprised to see they'd found another friend. Cloud returned soon after with his promised prize of fish for Happy. The small cat was already taking a liking to Cloud, though the swordsman seemed rather nervous about the attention. As for Gray, the two Gaians thought he was the most level-headed out of the four already…until he started arguing with Natsu once again. The argument was cut off by take-off and Gray claimed victory while Natsu sulked in sickness.

The Fairy Tail members were definitely a new kind of strange to Cloud. He'd never met people so carefree and, well, childish. These people were almost full-fledged adults, but they acted like they had just reached their teens. He watched Happy fly around the ship with a fish in his mouth, Lucy warning him that he would hit something if he wasn't careful, and Gray making a small jab at Natsu's motion sickness before walking away and leaving the Dragon Slayer in peace.

Then he wondered if they would be the same after contracting Geostigma.

Anyone who got it fell into the depression it brought. Edge wasn't silent because of lack of people, there were plenty of people; it was silent because of all the sickness. Not even these boisterous wizards could stand up to the Geostigma's harsh treatment.

He had missed both of Natsu's lectures to two of its victims already, though. His next one would be his fiercest and change the way the Jenova War Heroes looked at things completely.

* * *

**Next chapter, here's Gray! Erza will show up soon so i can get Team Natsu together and then it's time for some action! :)**


	8. Settling In

"We're back!" Natsu yelled happily into the empty bar as the others followed behind him, Cloud being last.

"Natsu, Cloud, Lucy." Tifa set the glass she was cleaning down and came to greet them. "And two new faces."

"Gray Fullbuster." Gray introduced.

"And I'm Happy!" Happy grinned, once again on Natsu's shoulder.

"The whole team is almost together." The barkeeper smiled back. "If I remember what you told me, Natsu, you're just missing Erza Scarlet."

"Until then, be on your guard." Lucy warned Tifa in a whisper. "These two cause a ruckus when they fight."

"If they fight they get kicked out." Tifa replied, sending a warning glare at the boys. Though they weren't looking, they felt the aura of death from that glare and, thinking it was Erza, decided they would leave their fights for outside.

"Do you have any idea where Erza might be?" Cloud questioned Lucy, bringing them back to the important topic.

"I can ask Crux again." She answered. "But depending on where she is, we'll probably need Cid's help again."

"He'll be back in a few hours after he sees to some maintenance on the ship that forced it to ground. For now, you guys can rest."

With that, the swordsman vanished upstairs while the four Fairy Tail members enjoyed each other's company once more. Gray and Natsu threatened but left it at that, Tifa's watchful glare reminding them their punishment if they fought. Happy asked said barkeeper the best way to get fish on Gaia, with which she happily told him, either by market or, for fresh fish, with a net or pole. The small cat was glad to know it wasn't much different from his home. As for Lucy, she met Marlene and Denzel for the first time and managed to get along splendidly with them.

"If Natsu eats fire, what do you do?" Denzel was first up for questioning, having had his questions on their type of magic side-stepped on Tifa's orders.

"She uses special summons." Tifa replied for the teen before she could say something the kids shouldn't know. Lucy was quick on the uptake and nodded.

"Instead of the materia you guys use, I've got these." She held up the key for Crux. "Each one has a special spirit inside, and they are all good friends of mine."

"You can be friends with summons?"

"These ones, yes. I haven't tried other summons."

"The summons here are usually monster types made for offense." Tifa told her and Lucy blanched. Monsters? "I don't see them being used for companionship, only battle."

"I-Interesting." She turned back to the children. "I can show you one of my smaller spirits if you'd like."

The children nodded vigorously for her to continue. They watched her pull out a silver key with a hexagonal shaped end, a blue head imprinted on it, and looked simple compared to the gold ones Denzel spied in her belt pouch.

"I open thee, Gate of the Canis Minor! Nikora!"

She didn't need any dramatic movements for this one, and the pink smoke cleared quickly to reveal a small white creature with black eyes and a horn-like nose.

"He's so cute!" Marlene squealed delightedly and knelt down next to the tiny shaking creature.

"His name is Plue." Lucy told her, smiling and motioning that the girl could pick him up; Plue liked all the attention.

Marlene absolutely adored the spirit and continued to hold onto him for the rest of the day. Another creature she tried to hold onto was Happy, but with Plue in her arms and Happy preferring to eat instead of play at the moment, she left the blue cat alone.

Watching them with a smile on her own face, Tifa continued her work cleaning up. She was surprised when Gray, feeling bad for barging in so suddenly and staying, offered to help, followed closely by Lucy. The latter got Happy to help with putting higher things away so Tifa didn't need the stool, for which she was grateful. Meanwhile, Natsu entertained Denzel and Marlene with tales of his fights.

"If you really fought people like that, I bet you could beat Sephiroth!" Denzel poured out. Immediately his mouth clamped shut and he looked at Tifa nervously. The woman had paused for the briefest second before returning to work.

"Is he strong?" Natsu asked, not reading the mood, as usual, and hiding the fact that he knew about Sephiroth already.

"Really strong." Marlene whispered.

"Good, can't waste my time on a rookie, hehe." The Dragon Slayer grinned widely.

Gray scoffed lightly, also having heard about Sephiroth on the way back. Natsu chose to ignore it this once.

"So you've got fire and Lucy has summon spirits." Denzel tried to quickly move the conversation elsewhere. "What do Happy and Gray do?"

"Happy flies." Natsu said simplistically, pointing out the blue cat as he used the white wings to lift up a glass to the top. "And droopy eyes over there uses ice."

"Oi, don't make it sound so useless slanty eyes!" Gray growled.

They glared daggers at each other and Lucy was worried they would start a fight again-Gray had already stripped off his coat and shirt to Tifa's shock-when someone opened the doors and stepped inside, silencing them.

The person was wearing a suit and had short blonde hair with bright blue eyes.

"Elena." Tifa said politely, but the slight hint of venom in her tone was not missed on the Fairy Tail wizards.

"Tifa." Spat back Elena. "Seems you have company. I thought you closed at this hour."

"Funny, coming from someone who just walked in to this closed bar."

Gray and Natsu found themselves at a loss in this situation. They couldn't exactly stop the two girls from glaring at each other in such a way…it was hypocritical. Elena walked towards Tifa, glancing once at each of the four Fairy Tail wizards inside.

"I just came with some news, that's all." Elena pulled a neat manila folder from her jacket and put it gently onto the bar in front of Tifa. "Cloud will want to see it too."

"Oi, who the hell are you?" Natsu spoke finally.

"That information is not for pedestrians." Elena replied with a snap.

"What?!"

Denzel put a cautious arm on Natsu to keep the snarling man down. For the most part, Natsu ignored him, but he did keep himself from hitting the blonde. As for the other three, they held baited breaths and kept a calculating glare on Elena.

"She's from the Turks." Tifa said after a moment of silence, taking the folder. "Working under Shin-Ra."

"Oh, the big company that crashed." Lucy mused, thinking back on what Cloud and Tifa had told her.

Elena bristled somewhat at the comment but otherwise said nothing. Pivoting sharply on her heels, the Turk woman stormed back outside into the night with the Fairy Tail wizards and Tifa watching her leave.

"Jeez, what's her problem?" Natsu frowned, Gray nodding in agreement next to him.

"Gray, your clothes." Happy said, fluttering next to said Ice Mage before spinning back towards his plate of fish. He scrambled to put his shirt back on, deciding to leave his coat since it would probably come off again anyway.

"So what's in the folder?" Lucy questioned the bartender.

Carefully, Tifa opened the folder, the Fairy Tail members gathering around to see, and noticed it was a report on Shin-Ra's recent efforts. It consisted of various funding to assist with clean up in Mako infested areas and the shutdown of active reactors around the continents. Ties with Wutai were growing steady and overall it seemed the Turks were providing any help they could with the problems spreading throughout Gaia.

But while Fairy Tail saw the good in it, Tifa could only see it as Rufus cleaning up the mess he had made after being shown how damaging it was. The Jenova War Heroes still harbored hate towards anything Shin-Ra, a hate Fairy Tail would soon come to be familiar with.

* * *

**Getting Shin-Ra into it now, this should be interesting. Erza will show up soon and then we'll get a fight! Not sure who to put it between yet though...just somethign to let Fairy Tail show off a little.**


	9. Scarlet Terrors!

Deep within the forests edging Nibelheim's borders, a figure followed the signs of a recent fight. Whoever had been in the fight was strong; they had managed to take out an entire pack of Shadow Hounds after being ambushed. His ruby gaze searched for the fighter.

He found her, for it was a her, kneeling next to a small creek and cleaning her sword. She had bright red hair rivaling his cape and stern brown eyes, and she was dressed in silver armor with a blue skirt, tall black boots, and silver armor on her lower arms and hands. Silently, the black haired man crept closer to her to observe. She didn't seem to be a threat, but with the aftermath of her battle not far behind, he couldn't risk a bloody confrontation.

Something stirred, not him, a little ways off in the brush. The woman snapped to standing attention, sword at the ready, waiting for the target to approach.

"Who's there?" She demanded in a tone used to commanding others.

A growl answered her call and another Shadow Hound appeared, the black beast snarling fiercely. Hiding in the shadows, the man in red watched to see what the woman would do and witness her power for himself.

"Another one?" The red haired woman frowned, lowering her sword slightly.

It leaped for the chance of a kill, only to meet its end on her blade. She was quick, that much the man could tell. Taking note of how she struck after the hound leaped, he decided to risk approaching her. As long as he didn't seem threatening, he hoped for a bloodless confrontation.

The woman spun to face him, sword once more at the ready. As she noticed he was human and not beast, her guard lowered somewhat and she examined him more carefully.

"I'm not here to fight." He told her, hands held up in a gesture of peace.

"Glad to hear." She relaxed, holding the sword down by her side. "Who are you?"

"My name is Vincent Valentine? Yours?"

"Erza Scarlet."

Vincent wondered what to do now that he had her attention. He admitted to not thinking the conversation through but kept his face passive.

"Perhaps you'd like to come out of the forest?" He questioned.

"Yes actually." She stepped forward eagerly. "I can't seem to find my way back to Magnolia. Strange, I know my way around most of Fiore."

"Fiore?" Vincent had never heard the name before.

Her eyes flashed with suspicion, but not towards him.

"Could I be in Edolas?"

"I'm afraid I don't know what you're talking about."

Erza was more than a little stunned, to say the least. The only thing she could come up with was she was in another world entirely, not one connected to Earthland as Edolas was. What she couldn't figure out was how to get back home. Surely everyone in Fairy Tail would worry if she didn't return; they needed to prepare for the Grand Magic Games.

"I must really be lost." She sighed. "Where am I, then?"

"Close to the town of Nibelheim." Vincent answered her.

'Never heard of such a place.' Erza thought, then turned her attention back to the gunman. "Could you take me there?"

"Yes." With that, he turned and began leading the way out of the forest with the warrior woman not far behind.

_Nibelheim, not much later…_

Vincent and Erza stepped into the small town and headed towards the center.

"Pardon me, Mr. Valentine." Erza stopped walking now that she was out of the forest and caught the gunman's attention. "Have any other strange people like myself found their way here?"

"Not that I know of." Vincent shook his head.

"I see. If you see anyone with this mark," She lifted up the armor on her left arm, revealing a small blue tattoo, "will you let me know?"

"I'll do my best. Thank you for giving me something to go off of."

"Of course." She paused. "I'll stay here for a time to figure out just where I am."

"That would probably be the best option. Good luck." With that, Vincent left the scarlet warrior to find her way around Nibelheim and made his way to the Inn.

As he was walking, he caught snippets of conversation between the townspeople.

"…the strangers appearing…"

"…something called Fairy Tale…or Tail?"

"Never seen them before…weird abilities…"

"They all have the same tattoo."

It was the last bit that made him pause and try to get more information from them before moving. They continued on about strange adolescents who seemed to be congregating in the Seventh Heaven bar. Tifa's bar. If that was true…he knew where to take Erza.

Pivoting quickly on his heel he made his way back to the scarlet warrior, who was in the center of town admiring the large well, and caught her attention.

"I got a lucky hit." He told her and her eyes widened in hope. "Strange people like yourself seem to be gathering together at a friend of mine's place. I can take you there."

"I would be very grateful."

_Edge, a few hours later…_

Erza was a decent conversationalist, that was for sure, but she also wasn't one to start one. Since Vincent also didn't really speak unless spoken too, the trip was fairly quiet. He asked her a few questions, such as who her friends were and about some of the things he'd overheard back in Nibelheim.

"My friends and I are from a guild known as Fairy Tail." Erza explained. "We're a wizard guild back home in Fiore."

"Wizards? People who use magic?" Vincent questioned as they wandered through the streets looking for the bar.

"Yes."

"What magic do you use?" He had noticed that her sword had somehow vanished and wondered if this magic had something to do with it.

"It's called Requip. I can switch my armor and weapons at will, and I have multiple armors and weapons at my disposal."

Magic like that sounded very useful, so Vincent thought.

Meanwhile, the Fairy Tail members already at Tifa's bar were earning their keep well and were making Tifa's business grow a little more. Lucy was an effective waitress, able to get tips from quite a few people, mainly men. Gray was decent, but could use a little work on his temper. Tifa didn't dare send Natsu, not after he tried to eat the customer's food on the way there. So, the Dragon Slayer was to help Tifa serve drinks, which he didn't try to down. As for Happy, he kept the kids occupied upstairs, along with Plue.

Suddenly, Natsu froze in place, nose lifted into the air and audibly sniffing.

"What's wrong?" Tifa questioned. She'd gotten good at noticing how the wizards acted in certain situations, and Natsu's nose in the air meant he'd found something interesting.

"Someone I know is coming." Natsu replied, still sniffing, his eyes closed in concentration. Then they snapped open. "Erza!"

Lucy and Gray paused, turning to their friend with grins on their faces. They finished whatever task they were doing and, along with Natsu, rushed out the front door. Tifa sighed and picked up the pace in their absence. She's see this Erza person soon.

Following Natsu's dragon nose it didn't take long for them to find her and pounce with cries of 'Erza!', glad to see she was unharmed and as well as ever. In return, she smiled, taking their enthusiastic hugs head on and just as glad to see them in this strange world as they were to see her.

"Boy are we glad to see you!" Lucy spoke first.

"I feel the same." Erza replied. "When I found out I wasn't on Earthland or Edolas, I was worried what would happen to everyone else."

"Now the team is all together!" Natsu cheered happily, fist pumping into the air.

"Where's Happy?"

"Back inside the bar." Gray replied instead. "Come on, we'll take you there."

"Thank you. Oh!" She turned back to the stranger with her whom the four had only just noticed. Lucy thought he kind of looked like Mystogan, but the black outfit was tighter and the red cape was tattered and covered his chest. Also, Mystogan didn't have a golden claw on his left arm. "Thank you, Mr. Valentine, for bringing me to my friends."

"It wasn't a problem." He nodded to the female warrior and promptly left.

"Who's he?" Natsu's head tilted in curiosity.

"His name is Vincent Valentine. He helped me find my way here."

"Well cool!"

"Alright, let's get back. We still have to help Tifa." Lucy told the others.

They all agreed and headed back inside the bar. The bartender immediately put them back to work while she let Erza take a seat and simply chatted with her. After hearing Natsu explain how scary Erza Scarlet was, Tifa found the mage easy to talk to and very polite. The only scary part was the armor, but even so, Gray and Natsu hadn't even so much as glared at each other since she arrived.

As for the Fairy Tail members, they were settling in nicely. They only wondered if the rest of their guild was alright. Would they be able to get back home? For some reason, Lucy felt nervous, as though something big was going to happen.

* * *

**Sorry this took longer than usual! I was having a hard time trying to figuring out how to get Erza to the others in one chapter. But, now they're all together! Time to set Fairy Tail up with a fight and let them show off for the Jenova War Heroes! (As to where Cloud went...let's say he's on a job, he'll be back to watch Natsu and the others kick ass) Enjoy!**


	10. Headquarters and Havoc

It was already a month and a half since Team Natsu had regrouped and started working with Tifa at the bar while trying to search for their friends. Ten months since the fall of Sephiroth. They were settling in well, though they sometimes complained about not getting to do missions as they usually did. Tifa wondered how to set something up for them so that, as long as they were here, they would feel at home.

Cloud was still nervous with the Fairy Tail wizards around and was out more frequently than before. Feeling guilty, Lucy and Erza both offered to find a different place to stay to make the place a little less crowded.

"It's fine, really." Tifa said as Erza once again offered to find a different place.

"If any more of my friends come here, we'll only take up more room." Erza argued. "It's best we find a large place we can set up in."

The others nodded, gathered around the bar in the vacant time between lunch and dinner.

"Hey, I've got an idea!" Natsu straightened up. "What if we put up posters around places asking Fairy Tail members to come here?"

"That actually sounds like a good idea." Gray mused. "But we can't tell them all to come here."

"So that brings us back to finding a new place." Lucy sighed. "Happy, want to scout out a place?"

"Aye, sir!" The blue cat spread his wings and lifted into the air. "I'll make sure to find a big one!"

"I'll go too!" Natsu jumped up. No one stopped him; he would be a more productive scout than his current job, and he always did missions with Happy, so letting them go together was expected.

Though slightly worried what trouble Natsu might get into, as he'd made enemies with several of the heavy drinkers that frequented the bar, Team Natsu just shrugged it off and got ready to work again.

Hands behind his head, Natsu scanned the streets for a suitable place. The scent of Geostigma was thick in the air, making his nose practically useless. Children cried in the alleyways, adults moaned in their houses. It made the Dragon Slayer frown deeply, feeling terrible for those with the terrible sickness. Happy was huddled on his shoulder, afraid of the hobbling men and women that struck out angrily at those around them.

"Natsu, let's hurry." The blue cat whimpered.

"It's okay, Happy. We'll find a place real quick." He moved Happy to rest in his arms to try and comfort his friend. When Happy was un-Happy, the feeling spread around.

It took them another ten or so minutes of searching through disease ridden streets to find the perfect place. It was run down, but they'd done construction work before, so fixing it up wouldn't be a problem at all. It was similar in size to the guild home they had built after the attack by Phantom Lord.

"Looks good, Natsu!" Happy perked up a little.

"Yeah! Stay here so I remember where to go and I'll get the others."

"Aye, sir!"

The blue cat perched on the arch above the door while Natsu rushed back through the empty street they'd travelled down to get to it. Getting back to Seventh Heaven took half the time since he knew the streets now and knew the easiest way to get to the building. It really wasn't that far away, meaning they could still help Tifa work.

In front of the shop was Cloud's motorcycle, meaning the swordsman was back. Natsu sped up a little and rushed inside to see what was going on.

"Oh, there he is." Tifa said as he walked inside.

"I didn't take that long, did I?" Natsu questioned. "Oh! Right, I found a good spot, though it might take some work."

"That won't be a problem." Erza replied with a small smile. "Good job, Natsu."

She made to hug him but ended up looking more like she'd hit the teen's head against her armor, the sound resounding through the room while Natsu blacked out for a second.

"Just…look for Happy." He muttered in a daze.

"By the way, Natsu, Cloud wants to ask something." Lucy stood the Dragon Slayer up straight and shook him out of his daze.

"Sure, what?"

Sighing, the blonde swordsman stood up straight from his position leaning on the bar and faced the group of mages, minus Happy.

"The others members of AVALANCHE and I want to see what kind of skills you have in battle, and to see if we can trust you. I'm asking if you four…and Happy…would be willing to head out to Goblin Island and…show off a little."

"Darn right we would!" Was Natsu's immediate reply. Though not as enthusiastic, the other Fairy Tail members were quick to agree. "…After we get Happy."

_Goblin Island, six hours later…_

After having Tifa make note of where their chosen building was, and picking up Happy, they followed Cloud and met up with Cid to board his airship and head over to the chosen island. On board were people of the AVALANCHE group Cloud had mentioned. A burly black man with a mechanized arm and the father of little Marlene, Barrett Wallace. A young ninja in rather revealing clothing currently sporting a small head and stomachache due to her own motion sickness, Yuffie Kisaragi. The last of the new faces was a large red lion-like hound with a black mane, tattoos and fire on his tail, Red XIII. Natsu was quick to make friends with him.

Also with them was Vincent and Tifa, the latter having closed her bar for the rest of the day to witness the magic power of Fairy Tail for herself.

Now they were landed and the two sick people were the first off, Natsu taking a little longer since his was more extreme than Yuffie's. The rest followed suit at an average pace.

"So what will our test be?" Erza questioned.

"We're going to split you up and put you with one of us." Cloud replied, not looking at her. "This island is infested with monsters…makes for good practice."

"I see."

"Who will I be with?" Natsu was fired up, fists ignited, showing no signs of his earlier sickness.

"Me."

"Cool! Let's go!" Natsu released the fire and instead gripped tightly to Cloud's arm, pulling him into the forest. The swordsman protested but his surprise kept him from pulling away before the Dragon Slayer already had him some length into the tree line.

"Cloud thought I would be the best choice for your partner, Erza, since it was me who first found you." Vincent approached the said warrior.

"A sound explanation. Shall we go?"

They were off. Happy didn't like being separated from Natsu, but Red was going to take him instead, animal for animal. They were actually getting along quite well, both chatting about the difficulties of being a four legged creature among humans. Happy was taking his chance to make himself out as stronger than he was. Gray, after replacing his shirt when Yuffie noticed it missing, went with Cid while Lucy moved off with Yuffie. Tifa and Barrett would be waiting from afar to provide help if needed.

"Are ya sure we should be doin' this?" Barrett turned to Tifa.

"Cloud's paranoid." She sighed. "We might as well go along with it to help him out. At least it's distracting him from what happened almost a year ago. And besides, we get to know just what these guys can do."

"I guess."

They both returned to the ship.

_Natsu and Cloud…_

"I thought you said there were monsters everywhere!" Natsu growled at the blonde while searching for any sign of life besides them.

"There should be." Cloud sighed. So far, the worst thing to happen was for Natsu to trip over a root while his attention was ahead of him.

But at the same time it worried him. The goblins would jump at the chance for a fight, they always did. There was no shortage of them, they reproduced like rabbits, and if there was a lack of humans coming to kill them off they killed off each other. Perhaps they'd stopped breeding? Unlikely. Maybe Natsu's dragon-like aura scared them off? Even less likely, goblins would jump at a dragon too.

So where were they? The little devils were completely gone, and any other monster for that matter.

"Gah! Come at me already!" Fire burst from Natsu's mouth as he raged.

"Well, I'm sure every creature on the island knows you're here now." Cloud simply shook his head and kept moving.

"How am I supposed to prove my strength if there's nothing to fight!?" In fury, the Dragon Slayer ignited his fist and punched a tree, causing it to break and fall down. The crash echoed in the forest, as if to mock them of its emptiness.

"Destroying trees won't do you any good." Cloud frowned, taking the lead towards where he remembered a rather thick nest of goblins to be. Maybe they were sleeping…then again, Natsu's screaming would have them up and charging already.

The pair took another five minutes or so walking, with Natsu being generally loud trying to attract monsters, before they made it to the goblin nest.

Not even Cloud expected to see what was there.

* * *

**I'm trying my best to get back into this story but the muse isn't coming to me. Maybe if i watch a bunch of Fairy Tail again or something.**

**But here's the next chapter! Getting to the battle part...i think...hope to continue.**


	11. So Much For Splitting Up

_Erza and Vincent…_

Once again the trek was rather silent, neither of them having anything to say to the other. When they heard Natsu shouting in the distance, Erza simply sighed and kept walking.

"So…where are the monsters?" Erza gazed around the forest. She had a sword in hand, but without any real challenge, she saw no need to change armors, remaining in what the Gaians had learned was her Heart Kruz armor, the armor she wore all the time.

"Normally they would have attacked by now…" Vincent mused. Just like Cloud, Vincent wondered where the goblins could have gone. "Perhaps we should-"

Erza didn't get to hear what they should do as a deafening sound crashed through. Worried, they raced towards it, not knowing it was simply Natsu throwing a fit.

_Happy and Red…_

"…and so, I stopped the six mages from destroying Fairy Tail!" Happy finished his ludicrous tale of how he had defeated six elite members of a guild with his wings and a fish. Red simply sighed and continued walking while the blue cat flew around him. At least he didn't have to carry the cat like he did Cait Sith.

Instead of listening to Happy rant, Red was trying to track down any monsters. He'd since realized that cat wasn't really all that strong, but Happy's test wasn't about strength. Cloud had noticed that he and Natsu were always together and wanted to see how he would act without the Dragon Slayer by his side. What Red found is that most of Happy's adventures revolved around Natsu, even if they started turning to stories of how he'd saved Natsu and not the other way around.

"Happy." Red called out, stopping. Since the forest seemed strangely monster free, the fire wolf thought he'd give the cat a question and answer session.

"Hm?" Having flown ahead a little, Happy turned back and returned to the wolf's side, landing in front of him and letting his wings vanish.

"You seem to think highly of Natsu. Any special reason for that?" Red pushed the grass a little before lying down to get comfortable. Happy followed suit by sitting down, pulling a fish out of his green bag.

"Well yeah! Natsu's my partner and best friend!" Happy lifted a paw into the air. "We always work together!"

"How did Natsu find you?"

"Hm, that's a long story…" Happy nibbled on his fish while he thought for a moment. "I'm actually from a world called Edolas. Carla, an Exceed like me, says it's connected to Earthland through a magic portal, but it's not open anymore. I remember something happened in Edolas so the Exceed queen had the children taken to Earthland to protect them. Now all of us Exceeds live in Earthland, because there's no more magic in Edolas and we have magic in us!"

"That doesn't explain how Natsu found you." Red pointed out.

"I'm getting there!" Happy waved his tiny forelegs rapidly. "Anyway, when I fell down in my egg I fell on Natsu. He kept me warm and helped me hatch and then he raised me. We've been partners ever since!"

Happy's tail swished, well, happily as he finished his tale. This one at least sounded true, though Red could hardly believe Happy came from an egg. Perhaps if this Carla cat showed up he'd ask her.

The deafening sound of the tree falling startled them and Red was on alert. Listening closely for a moment, Happy relaxed and went back to his nearly finished fish.

"There are not any monsters that big on this island." Red growled.

"There's Natsu." Happy grinned. "He's probably mad since there are no monsters."

"We should still at least check." Red began walking towards the direction the tree had fallen.

Happy gulped down the rest of his fish and took back to the air to follow.

_Yuffie and Lucy…_

The two girls got along swimmingly. Their tastes were very similar and had plenty to say about their respective teams. Yuffie grumbled about Cloud's moodiness after the ordeal with Sephiroth and how everyone kept treating her like a weak kid. Lucy countered with the insanity of her guild and how Natsu and Gray were always fighting, needing Erza to break them up though sometimes she joined in.

"Honestly, all those two do off mission is argue." Lucy groaned. "I love Fairy Tail, but sometimes they get on my nerves."

"I know how you feel." Yuffie shrugged. "Cid's always breathing down my neck when I do the tiniest thing wrong and Cloud hasn't come out of his emo stage."

"But they're still your friends, right?"

"Yeah, they are, they just need to perk up."

"Ha, mine need to cool down."

As if to prove it, the crashing of the tree made them jump.

"Honestly, Natsu." Lucy groaned. "Might as well see what's up, he'll be like this all day if someone doesn't check on him."

"Jeez, talk about throwing a fit." Yuffie shook her head in mock disappointment before the two girls moved off in Natsu's direction.

_Cid and Gray…_

"Ya seem to have a problem keeping yer clothes on." Cid grumbled to the Ice Mage.

Gray grumbled back but slipped his shirt and coat back on.

"It's not my fault, it's a habit." He argued. "I don't understand how I strip without noticing."

"I don't either." The pilot shook his head sadly and continued walking, spear in hand. He was starting to regret going with the Ice Mage, as he was both stubborn and cocky. Not to mention his stripping problem. Gray seemed to pay attention to everything else, how could he not notice himself stripping? That was probably the one thing anyone would notice, seeing as it involved taking off their own clothes. He seemed to do it by instinct!

The pair continued on, trying to find any sign of monsters to fight. Gray eventually got bored enough to yawn while walking, but at least it meant he wasn't stripping. Without anything to fight, Gray seemed to lose that urge.

Unlike the other groups, when the tree fell from Natsu's rage, they ignored it and kept going. They only did so since Gray immediately recognized who it was, insulted the tree-hitter, and kept walking.

"There should be a nest around here with tons of goblins." Cid led them down a small forgotten path that looked to be used by tiny people; the goblins, most likely. "Hopefully we'll find SOMETHING."

"Emphasis on the 'something', huh?" Gray snickered. "Then again, this is getting kind of boring."

And so the once separate groups were to gather together again, much to a dark man's frustration. The beast he had sent was to take them one at a time. Then again, he thought he could use this to gauge the Fairies strengths and weaknesses.

Time to sit back and enjoy the show.

* * *

**Okay, i'm attempting to write the big fight right now. I have my monster picked out i just need to figure out the method i want to have the fairies take it down without making the Gaians look completely stupid and useless for not doing anything. I'll try to have it done sometime this weekend if i'm not too busy.**


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